Individual Research Memo:( drug companies)
The research memo is a briefing paper, written by a staff member to the person whom you will be representing in the roundtable. (So, in this assignment, you are pretending to be a staff member, briefing the leader of the group/organization that you will be representing at the roundtable, on the background of your organization’s position.) The memo will summarize the research findings for and against your boss’s position, and explain how to build those research findings into your argument. For instance, if your boss is the head of Syngenta and plans to advocate strongly for the farming of genetically engineered crops and animals in Switzerland, you may assess the research and decide that a frame of “economic benefit” might be most beneficial for your position. You will advocate this frame (explicitly) by providing an evaluation of the fiscal costs and benefits of the new technology. You should also be CLEAR in how the evidence you have presented links to your interests as a stakeholder. It might also help to discuss how the biotechnology industry has been beneficial in other national economies. You will also want to address potentially opposing points of view—e.g., the fiscal implications of consumer boycotts of companies that make or sell genetically modified foods. (Be careful, however, to consider the sources of your evidence. You want to try to make your arguments as robust as possible, so relying solely on biotechnology industry sources—which obviously have a biased position—would not be wise. If these are the only sources available, you might want to note this in your memo, and find another frame/argument that might be more robust.)

You do not need to cite the class readings directly, but making use of the ideas in relevant sections of the course will improve your paper. Furthermore, paying attention to the style and substance of the presentations of advocates that we discuss in class will be very useful to you. If you do this memo correctly, you will have a great rough draft for the presentation that you need to give at the roundtable itself.

The page limit is 2 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font, not including references.